


all this liquor got me second guessing

by lesbiansarahjacobs



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, Drinking & Talking, Multi, Pining, this is mostly exposition and dialogue tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27520081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbiansarahjacobs/pseuds/lesbiansarahjacobs
Summary: Zoro’s 21st birthday is on a Wednesday, so it’s not exactly an insane bar crawl, but he’s completely fine with that. What’s less fine is how weird everyone's acting about him and Law.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro, Nami/Nefertari Vivi, Usopp / Sanji, pre zolawlu... just kidding... unless?
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	all this liquor got me second guessing

**Author's Note:**

> god do you ever get so bored at your job that you conceptualize an entire, loosely zoro-centered modern / college au? me neither. i also had to put half an ounce of work into figuring out how to format the texts, so please clap.
> 
> title refers to gianni & kyle’s "5 shots," because it reminds me of all the similar evenings i’ve had with my friends <3 
> 
> i'm posting this on the later side (pretend i'm in a different time zone), but happy birthday king!!

Wednesdays are kind of average. Two lectures, but he has almost three hours between them, which is plenty of time to grab lunch and take a nap in the library. And no kendo practice, so he just works out at the gym. Tuesdays and Thursdays are worse, and Fridays are especially bad because he has recitation for his gen ed English class. 

Usually, he hangs out with people on Tuesday nights, if they’re going to see each other during the week. His first lecture isn’t until 11 on Wednesday morning, so it’s a good night to stay up a little later. But his birthday’s on a Wednesday this year, and for some reason, everyone insisted that they had to celebrate the day of. 

Zoro starts the day with a slew of text messages. Usually, they’re all from the group chat, but today, everyone wanted to text him “happy birthday” in their own threads. And now he has to say “thanks,” like, twenty separate times instead of once or twice. 

Perona’s is first, sent at 12:03 a.m.

> **Perona:** AHHH HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY!!! i wanted to be the first to say that, hope i made it <3

He hopes she didn’t stay up too late after that. Their dad is a stickler about getting the workday started at 8 am exactly, even though he and Perona are both night owls.

> **Me:** Thanks! Don’t worry, no one else was even close

Law’s text is from 5:13 a.m.

> **Law:** Happy birthday! I get off at 6, if that’s not too late to come over

The hospital he’s doing his residency at is only half an hour away, but the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. shifts they have him on make him more distant. Law usually manages to drag himself over to campus when he has a weekend day off, even if it’s a rarity. Rarer still is when he gets real time off, which is when he tries to make it up north to visit Mihawk and Perona at the funeral home. It’s where Law got his start with medicinal volunteering, and he likes to check in and help out if he’s able.

Zoro shudders at the thought. The family business has never been his thing. Thank god Law took over that role for him.

> **Me:** Thanks! And yeah if you aren’t tired, we’ll probably be up til 10 at least

His dad took his time with it, only remembering at 8:37 a.m.

> **Dad:** Happy Birthday! When are you coming home again? It’s been a while…

No matter how many times he and Perona make fun of him, Mihawk refuses to stop ending his texts with ellipses. Apparently he doesn’t care that it makes him look like an old man. Better than Shanks’ insistence on using the crying laughing emoji in every text at least. They complement each other in the worst ways.

> **Me:** Thanks dad! And idk maybe next weekend? If the criminal justice essay isn’t too bad

Luffy’s text is from 9:24 a.m., which definitely means he slept through his 9 a.m. again.

> **Luffy:** Happy birthday!!!!! What time are we coming over tonight??

Fuck, he forgets when he and Nami agreed was a good time. That’s the shitty thing about having a birthday so late in fall; it’s too cold for bars. Or at least, Nami and Sanji complain about it being too cold and everyone else is too lazy to argue. And now he probably has to clean. He and Nami aren’t unclean roommates, but you’re supposed to vacuum before people come over, right?

Sanji usually helps with clean-up no matter whose house they end up at, plus Zoro already told everyone else to Venmo him a few bucks to help balance out the alcohol cost, so that’s two less things to worry about. He texts Nami before he replies to Luffy.

> **Me:** Hey when are people coming over tonight I forget

She doesn’t answer until he’s replied to everyone else’s texts and finished showering. But he expected that; her campus barista job is super busy around class changes especially.

> **Nami:** you’re the fucking worst. it’s in the group chat, but we said 6. we’re getting dinner first, remember? 
> 
> **Me:** Luffy’s the one who asked me so we’re both stupid okay 
> 
> **Nami:** no shit?? you’re moron loving morons. we knew this

Zoro dislikes her message, which he knows she’ll get a kick out of, and passes on the information to his moron-loving moron boyfriend.

> **Me:** Thanks!! And we’re meeting here at 6 before we head over to the mexican place down the street 
> 
> **Luffy:** OH yeah I love their nachos!! 
> 
> **Me:** Lol I know that’s mostly why we’re going 
> 
> **Luffy:** But it’s not my birthday?? 
> 
> **Me:** Well they also have super cheap drinks 
> 
> **Luffy:** XD

Before he leaves for class, Zoro texts Law the restaurant’s address so he can just meet them there. Doesn’t want to get a call later when he’s locked outside the apartment.

\---

The iPhone was a joint gift from his dad and his sister for Christmas last year. Zoro didn’t see much of a point to it, but they insisted he needed something with “navigational features” and “stronger cell service.” It’s impossible to argue with Mihawk and Perona when they agree on something, because it’s such a rare occurrence. Spooky, really. So he took the damn phone and let them add him to Find My Friends.

And okay, maybe it’s helped a few times when he was supposed to meet them somewhere for dinner, but he’d never tell them they were right to buy the stupid thing. It’s mostly been useful for listening to his training playlists and following along in the group chat more easily. 

Usopp likes to send progress pictures of his graphic design work so everyone will pressure him to finish on time, and when Sanji’s feeling vain, he’ll send pictures of his latest dish. Ace sends terrible memes, Luffy never reads anything, and Sabo and Zoro just like everything. Nami and Vivi actually use it to plan events. Evidence that Law checks in is few and far between, but he always likes a planning message if he’s actually going to come.

A few hours after Zoro texts him back, Law likes the message for tonight, which instantly catches people’s attention.

> **Ace:** oh you can make it? cool 
> 
> **Law:** I’ll try to lol. Can’t promise I’ll be there the whole time 
> 
> **Nami:** don’t forget to send zoro a couple bucks for drinks!! @roronoazoro on venmo
> 
> _[Law liked “don’t forget to send zoro…”]_

A minute later, Venmo alerts Zoro that Trafalgar Law has paid him $5.00 for “drinks.” How straightforward—Luffy always makes his payment descriptions a string of emojis.

> **Zoro:** Thanks! Looking forward to seeing you tonight

He turns his attention back to the lecture. It’s about drug criminalization, which is interesting, plus he likes the lecturer. Smoker used to be a cop before he retired due to corruption, and he gives the class a great inside look into how the police force has manipulated the so-called war on drugs to their advantage.

Zoro takes notes as best he can. He’s not into class participation except when Smoker forces him to talk, so he still wants to look attentive. The hour and twenty minutes go by fairly quickly, and Zoro meanders to the library café. Nami’s shift is over by now, but sometimes he sees her on her way to class. 

Today, he doesn’t run into Nami; instead, it’s his friend from kendo club, Kuina. She remembers that today’s his birthday and buys him his usual sandwich and apple. It’s a welcome change of pace to eat with someone else instead of just watching YouTube, even if he and Kuina are both pretty quiet. 

They talk about kendo and classes, mostly. She asks if he’s going out tonight, and he says, nah, just staying in and some friends are visiting. Lunch cuts way into his naptime, but he ends up not minding. 

He has to leave for class before she does, so he thanks her for lunch and says he’ll see her at practice tomorrow. They wave good-bye and he fidgets his way through another, much less interesting sociology lecture. 

A couple more texts ping through from the group chat, but Nami texts him in their own thread on his way out.

> **Nami:** go buy the drinks before you come home or else you’ll forget

Sometimes he hates that they’re so familiar with each other’s schedules.

\---

Zoro’s just finished vacuuming when there’s a knock on the door. He opens it to find Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji. The former two are roommates, so the latter must’ve gotten off his shift in time to walk over with them. 

They all chorus “happy birthday” with a decent degree of enthusiasm. Zoro waves them off uncomfortably. (Which is _stupid_ , because who the fuck gets embarrassed over other people remembering that they were born on a certain day? He doesn’t know why he’s like this.) Nami and Vivi pop up behind him and invite everyone inside so they can wait for Sabo and Ace. 

“Oh, you vacuumed for us?” Sanji asks. “I’m touched.” 

“Maybe I did it for everyone but you,” Zoro says as he puts the thing back in the closet, hearing Sanji’s annoyed _tch_ in response. He sits down on the smaller couch, and Luffy rushes to join him, sliding off his shoes and coat so he can fling his legs over Zoro’s lap. 

“I missed you!” he says, like he always does after they haven’t seen each other all day. It’s incredibly endearing. Zoro ruffles his hair and hugs him. 

“Gay,” Nami mutters as she drapes herself all over Vivi in their armchair. 

Vivi rolls her eyes at the joke, but draws her closer anyway.

There’s another knock at the door, and Nami and Zoro look at each other, reaching a unanimous agreement. Nami uses her sweetest voice. “Sanji, would you mind getting that?” 

Sanji looks like he’s trying not to blush. “Sure, Nami.” He gets up from the couch to open the door for them. 

“You shouldn’t manipulate him like that.” Usopp shakes his head at them. 

“He’s _your_ boyfriend. Tell him to stop being manipulated so easily,” Zoro says. 

Usopp’s comeback is interrupted by Sabo and Ace’s entrance, which is accompanied by a booming “What’s up, fuckers?” from the one wearing a cowboy hat in November. 

“Good to see you,” Zoro says. 

“Happy birthday,” Sabo says, as if to apologize for Ace. 

Zoro waves that one off too. “Do you want to head to the restaurant?” 

“Shouldn’t we wait for Torao?” Luffy asks. 

“His shift doesn’t end until—” Zoro checks his phone. “—right now. He’ll let us know when he’s leaving, but he won’t want us to wait up on him.” 

Everyone’s phone buzzes with a message.

> **Law:** Got out a few minutes early, leaving now. Don’t wait up

“That was weird,” Nami says.

“We know each other,” is all Zoro has to say in return, because yeah, that _was_ kind of weird.

They make the short trek to the restaurant and get settled with their chips and drinks. Nami’s obsessed with the margaritas here, and Zoro has to begrudgingly admit they’re pretty good. He gets a frozen one and sips it lightly while listening to everyone catching up. It’s the first time they’ve all been together this week, and the time passes quickly.

“Hey.” Zoro hears the quiet voice above everyone else’s; he’s so attuned to it after all these years. Law waves when he looks up.

“Oh, hey! Glad you could make it.” He gets up and gives his friend a strong hug. (Autistic solidarity—he and Law don’t like light touches.) “You haven’t missed anything.” 

“Torao’s here!” Luffy says gleefully. “Come sit next to me! I saved you a seat.” 

Law smiles wryly. “Thank you for thinking of me.” 

Zoro sits back down as Luffy begins chattering at Law. “How was the hospital?” 

“Nothing special.” Law grabs a tortilla chip from their basket and dips it in guac. “Slow day in the ER and not that many surgeries scheduled either. How were classes?” 

“He didn’t go,” Zoro cuts in.

“Again, Luffy?” Nami asks from her position further down the table. She’s already one and a half margs in, though Vivi may have helped with that. 

“I knew you couldn’t handle a 9 a.m.,” Sanji scolds. 

Luffy shrugs blithely. “It’s just coms.” 

“And you’ve still failed it before,” Usopp points out. 

“It’s not _my_ fault Garp wouldn’t pay for classes unless I picked a major.” Luffy pouts. 

“I didn’t mean to bring up such a sore subject,” Law says, and Zoro waves it off. 

“We go through this at least once a week, man. How’s Roci doing at the bookstore?”

He knows what he’s doing: this is one of Law’s favorite topics, and Zoro likes to listen to him. It’s comforting and a nice change in energy from Luffy’s rambles. 

So Law talks about his dad’s bookstore for like, five minutes straight while Zoro nurses his drink. There’s a lot going on with YA apparently. Roci’s been sending Law different pictures of displays to get his opinion before changing his mind and completely redoing them. 

There’s a difference between Law’s special interests and topics he just has things to say about. Roci’s bookstore is an example of the latter, along with disability studies and book-to-movie adaptations. Once you peel back Law’s reserved exterior, he’ll go off about really random shit at any given opportunity.

(Now, if Zoro _really_ wants to listen to Law talk, he’ll mention zombies or coins. When they’re with other people, he does it as a teasing thing. If someone else brings up _The Walking Dead_ or whatever, he’ll say, “Oh, Law has a lot of thoughts on that,” while his friend glares at him and tries to claim it’s just a casual thing. The best part is when the other person says no, they want to hear his thoughts, and Law takes a deep breath before rambling about dystopian fiction and humanism and the history of zombies in pop media. 

Law usually gets his revenge by doing the same with swords or history, mostly wars. People say something about katanas or even fucking Rome, and Law says, “You know, Zoro’s kind of an expert on that,” and then Zoro has to try and act normal. But he knows it’s not malicious, because Law also likes to ask Zoro about that stuff when it’s just them. Perona said once that special interests were kind of like a love language, and she’s right.)

Anyway, Law’s always self-conscious of how long he talks for, so after a while, he asks Sanji about the Baratie. 

“Ugh, don’t get me started,” Sanji says. “I suggest one menu change and the old bastard won’t talk to me for an entire day.” 

“You didn’t suggest it, though,” Usopp says. “You said ‘you never change fucking anything’ and ‘would it kill you to take off a goddamn meat dish.’” 

“Wait, you want to get rid of the meat?” Luffy asks, because he has a one-track mind. 

Sanji sighs. “It’s one dish that no one ever orders, not even you. Don’t worry, you won’t notice it’s gone.” 

That satisfies Luffy, and Ace pipes up. “But did he change the menu?” 

“Yeah.” Sanji smiles. “After he was done being mad, he said I was right. Probably helped that I apologized for being an ass.” 

“Because I told you to.” Usopp rolls his eyes, but in that way he does where he’s also looking at Sanji way too lovingly. 

Nami rolls her eyes in a much less nice way, which is good, because Zoro loves his best friend, but, come on, it’s Sanji. “If we’re still talking about classes, I had a midterm today,” she says.

“Oh, right, the climate one,” Zoro says. “How’d it go?” 

“She killed it and just wants to brag.” Vivi grins and shoves Nami’s arm, also lovingly. 

“Hey, get the brags in where you can,” Sabo says. “Undergrad’s hard enough already. Didn’t you have work today too?” 

“Just a few hours at the library café. They didn’t have me on register, so I just brewed a million lattes.” Nami shrugs. “I had some downtime to remind Zoro when you guys were coming over.” 

“Jesus, you forgot?” Ace asks. “Nami put it in the chat, like, ten times.” 

Zoro glares at Nami, the traitor. “In my defense, I’d just woken up.” 

“That’s not a very good defense,” Sanji says, because of course he does, and then he adds, “You’re too nice to him, Nami.” 

Zoro carefully takes a sip of his drink so he doesn’t call the guy a simp again. Then he throws his boyfriend under the bus instead. “Luffy’s the one who asked me.” 

“Oh, come _on_ , Luffy,” Sabo and Ace say at the same time.

“Are you even reading the chat?” Usopp asks. 

Luffy looks to Law, his one remaining ally, but he’s clearly trying not to laugh. 

“Sorry,” Law gets out. “I have to side with your brothers here. When’s the last time you actually read your messages?” 

“I read them all the time!” Luffy shoots back, but then he amends it. “Sometimes. When I remember. Whatever! I can just ask Zoro about stuff.” 

Zoro puts his arm around him lovingly, completing the chain of affection. “Yeah. You can ask me.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, I feel single right now,” Law says to no one in particular. His tone is dry enough that it doesn’t come off as something he’s all that upset about.

“Hm,” Ace says, shooting Law a very inviting smirk. 

Sabo looks like he’s about to chide Ace for trying to hit on yet _another_ of their friends, but Law just smiles and shakes his head ever so slightly. 

_Good_ , Zoro thinks, and the relief of it catches him off guard. The feeling leaves as soon as it comes, though, because the waitress finally comes back with their food, and he has his hands full trying to make sure Luffy eats like a normal person.

\---

They go back to the apartment, and everyone toes off their shoes at the door and puts their coats on the arm of the couch in the living room. (Nami and Zoro are students, so there’s no reason for them to have a coat rack, much to Mihawk’s continuous disappointment.)

Sanji is the last to lay his coat down, and he picks up a box from behind the couch. Zoro hadn’t even noticed it when he arrived earlier. “I made dessert!” he says, removing the lid, and everyone oohs. They’re very nice cupcakes; Sanji clearly put a lot of work into designing the frosting to look like the handles of Zoro’s katanas. 

Which is all well and good, but—

“And before you say anything,” Sanji says, reaching down for a smaller box and handing it to Zoro, “I left one completely plain for you because you’re a bastard with no sense of taste.” 

No matter what Sanji thinks about someone, he always remembers their food preferences, and tonight, he remembered that Zoro hates really sweet stuff so he usually wipes the frosting off cupcakes before eating them. Despite himself, Zoro’s heart swells a little, and he makes eye contact with the cook. “Thanks. This is perfect.” 

Sanji smiles. “Well. Happy birthday. Oh, and there’s actually two in there, because I left another one plain when Law said he was coming.” 

“You—” Law starts, and then he seems to remember that this is Sanji’s _thing_ , so he just ends by echoing Zoro. “Thanks for remembering. Not many people do.”

“Well fuck y’all, I want a normal one,” Ace says, reaching for the bigger box. Law and Zoro step away with their own box and sit down next to each other while everyone else takes one of the cupcakes that Sanji actually put work into. 

They immediately begin praising him for how wonderful the dessert is, and Sanji shrugs off the praise, but Zoro knows he’s loving it. He’d tell him the plain cake tastes good, but he also knows Sanji well enough to know he’d completely chew Zoro out for insulting him since he’s not appreciating his actual work. Whatever. They get each other. 

Luffy plops down on Zoro’s other side. “What are we going to do?” 

“Usopp said he was bringing Smash and his extra controllers,” Zoro says. 

“Only eight of us can play at a time, so someone has to sit out each round,” Usopp says, digging through his bag to find the HDMI cord for his Switch. 

“What did you end up buying for us to drink?” Sabo asks, and Zoro goes to the kitchen and comes back with the loot. 

“Two bottles of rum and some cheap vodka. I’m really spoiling you guys.” 

Nami grimaces and makes her own trip to the kitchen, returning with a bottle of her favorite riesling. “I might do a couple shots of vodka, but you’re crazy if you think I’m drinking rum. Did you forget to buy mixers or did you plan on everyone just doing shots?” 

She definitely knows the answer to that, so she only asked to embarrass him. “I forgot the mixers.” 

“You’re lucky my girlfriend is smarter than you,” Nami says as Vivi goes to open the fridge and pulls out some cranberry juice and Coke. Jesus, his observation skills are getting bad if he didn’t notice her bringing that earlier either. 

“That’s not saying much,” Law quips, laughing when Zoro punches his arm. 

“You’re making fun of me on my birthday too?” Zoro asks. “You’re all terrible friends.” 

Vivi gives him a commiserating smile. “I just took this from the fridge at my house. No big deal, especially if it’s your first time buying.” 

“You never had a fake?” Ace asks. 

“I was too lazy and cheap,” Zoro admits. “Plus, when we were home, Law and Perona would buy me shit if I asked.” 

“Wow, giving alcohol to minors.” Sanji shakes his head at Law faux-disapprovingly. 

“Oh, come on, he’d just sneak it out of Mihawk-ya’s stash if we didn’t.” Law smirks. “Doffy’s stuff was always better though. Your dad gets the driest wine possible.” 

“It’s terrible, and then he tells me _my_ taste isn’t refined.” 

“Are you seriously dunking on dry wine right now?” Sanji asks. “Your dad’s right, your taste is terrible.”

Zoro flips him off. 

“I got the Switch hooked up and everything’s ready for us to play,” Usopp says, his ability to detect and deflect oncoming arguments kicking in. He turns away from the TV and holds up the bag with all the remotes. “Take one and pass it on.” 

Everyone scrambles for a controller at the same time instead so they can start looking for a character. Usopp ruined any chance of dignity by already navigating to the selection screen. Luffy picks Pikachu immediately, and Nami rushes to claim Zero Suit Samus. Zoro usually picks Link and yeah, it’s because he has a sword, but whatever. 

Sanji unilaterally decides to sit out “for the first round.” Zoro’s sure he thinks he’s being sly about it, but he can see the way the man is looking longingly at Nami’s wine. And if he _was_ going to try and steal some, Smash would be the best opportunity. Nami is freakishly competitive, after all. So he’s not going to say anything; he wants to watch how this plays out.

They start the first game and everyone remembers simultaneously that this whole experience isn’t going to be fair: Usopp is way better than all of them because he’s a streamer with fifty thousand subs. After two rounds of getting destroyed, everyone demands to pick his character for him. They also decide to take alternate shots of their drink of choice and water (at Sanji’s insistence, because he’s an annoying mom friend) at the end of rounds. 

Sanji takes shots with them, and Usopp forces him to take his controller for a round, which makes the gameplay more tolerable, since Sanji is, to put it kindly, shit at video games. Nami manages to win that round. It’s not the most surprising thing—she joins Usopp on stream sometimes—but she’s happy enough that she stops eyeing her wine suspiciously. 

Everyone gets bored of Smash after a while, especially Luffy and his ADHD. So they just make their mixed drinks and sip them while they talk. Zoro never does much of that—not a lot to say—but it’s nice to hear more of what’s going on with everyone else. 

Like Law, Ace and Sabo have already graduated. They live together but work really different jobs: Ace has this freelance consulting firm that’s just him where he coaches social media personalities, while Sabo does something with insurance. (Zoro gets the vibe that Sabo isn’t exactly doing something _legal_ with insurance, but the whole industry is a scam anyway.) So the two of them usually have plenty of stories to share. 

Law’s hospital stories, on the other hand, are either batshit or boring as hell. It’s because of HIPAA, apparently, and also because he and his friends take their jobs super seriously. No, Law’s better stories come from his awful roommate, Kidd. 

Their relationship is only slightly less complicated than his dad and Shanks’. From what Zoro can understand, Law and Kidd had sex once, but they aren’t actually into each other. They just like to argue, meaning all their hookup was good for was more pointed insults and kinkshaming. 

Law’s always been nice to Perona and Zoro (and by extension, Zoro’s friends), but his jackass side really comes out with Kidd, who acts the same way. They’re only roommates because Kidd’s friends don’t want to live with him and Law doesn’t want to live with his own friends—and yet they do work well together outside of how they call each other assholes all the time. 

On Monday, Law was about to leave for the hospital when he realized Kidd was still around, which meant he’d overslept. “So, I go into his room, because I need him to move his car,” Law says. “And I shake him to wake him up, and the bastard punches me in the arm.” He shows off the bruise, and Vivi winces. 

“Did you hit him back at least?” Luffy asks, leaning over Zoro for emphasis.

“Yeah, I got him in the shoulder and he actually woke up.” Law laughs. “You’d think he’d thank me for saving his ass, but he didn’t even apologize for punching me.”

“Man, that’s rude,” Usopp says. 

Law shrugs. An average day with Kidd. “I mean, I did insult his dick in front of his friend the other day.” 

“Also rude.” Ace sits up to refill his glass. “But objectively funnier.” 

“He said everyone else he’s fucked has said his dick is ‘just fine,’ so of course I asked if he’s asked them how his dick was.” Law grins and takes a drink. “Killer also wanted to know the answer to that, but Kidd just stomped out.”

“Anyone else want a shot?” Nami asks. “I think it’ll be my last. I have classes tomorrow.” 

Everyone nods and passes around the bottles to fill their glasses—they’re all extras from weddings Nami waitressed at last summer—before clinking them together.

And oh, Zoro must be drunk now. He can’t drag his eyes away from the way Law’s throat bobs as he downs the shot. It’s like this every time he’s drunk or high—movement becomes so fascinating. 

Law catches him looking and laughs. “That far gone, Zoro-ya?” It’s… huh. 

Zoro makes himself laugh too. “Yeah, guess so.” 

There’s a giggle from Luffy, but that’s because he actually is that far gone. His crazy metabolism doesn’t apply to alcohol, weirdly enough. 

Nami makes eye contact with him, and Zoro feels caught red-handed for some reason. But it’s not like— he wasn’t— it’s _Law._ Besides, Luffy is right here. He’s been yanking at a metal link puzzle (that Zoro bought for that exact purpose) all night, and he hasn’t been saying that much, but he’s here, and Zoro’s glad. Because he loves him. 

He throws an arm around Luffy’s shoulders and focuses on the way it feels when Luffy leans into him. Which isn’t difficult, because even though Zoro needs even deeper pressure when he’s drunk, Luffy never does anything lightly. 

Zoro also takes the moment to look at all his friends, here together just because they thought his birthday was important. Law’s turned to chat animatedly with Nami, and Vivi and Ace are talking about one of Ace’s clients. Sabo, Sanji, and Usopp are all laughing about something, and it’s all just very cozy. 

He presses a kiss to Luffy’s head. There. Now it’s even cozier. 

\---

Things taper off around 10: Sanji and Nami have early classes, Sabo and Ace have work in the morning, Vivi and Usopp have projects due tomorrow night, and Law, of course, has his terrible residency shift. Everyone says goodbye and promises to see each other next week, if not sooner, and everyone except Nami and Luffy give Zoro a last hug as they head out the door. Nami demands they all text the chat when they get home and then heads to bed, leaving Zoro and Luffy alone in the living room. 

They sit in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying the comfortable sleepiness that comes at the end of being drunk.

“Law’s nice, isn’t he,” Luffy remarks eventually. 

“Mm-hmm,” Zoro agrees, knowing it would drive the man up the wall if he knew Luffy said that. Most people don’t use that word to describe Law, and he likes it that way. 

“How do you guys know each other again?” Luffy asks this question every so often, and Zoro’s never quite sure whether he genuinely forgets or if he just enjoys hearing the story. Not that it's much of one.

“Family friends. Our dads—well, my dad and his uncle, mostly—knew each other when we were kids. Law used to help out at the funeral home a lot. Still does when he can.”

“That’s nice of him.” 

Zoro snuggles into his boyfriend as a way of response. He’s nothing if not a touchy drunk. 

“He’s cute too.” Zoro can feel Luffy frown as he says the next sentence. “But he looks like he needs to sleep more.” 

“He’s always looked like that,” Zoro says, not addressing the first part because he’s never let himself think about that, so how could he start now? 

When they were really young, when Law first started coming over, half to escape his house and half because he was already morbid enough to be fascinated by death, the only way Zoro could express his fondness was to say he wished Mihawk was Law’s dad too. 

Perona had agreed readily, and Law smiled but explained that Doflamingo wasn’t his father, he just liked to act like it. By the time Law was thirteen and Zoro was eight, he and Roci had finally been able to get a place of their own. 

Law was the first person Zoro had come out to, even before Perona, just because Zoro wanted to test the waters with someone who wasn’t related to him first. He’d said it in a text, since Law had already left for college. And the response was just what he needed. Law said he was proud of him and honored to be so trusted, and to top it all off, he was gay too. He told Zoro he’d be there if he needed anything, and that was enough for a thirteen-year-old Zoro to develop a mild case of hero worship. 

It hadn’t lasted long, only a couple of years. Even though Law’s older, he’s never tried to act like he had authority over Zoro and Perona. No, he’s always been just a friend—still is, of course. 

But it’s not like Zoro hasn’t looked. Because he has. It would be hard not to, like, Zoro has eyes. And Luffy did bring it up first, so maybe it’s safe to mention. 

Luffy’s been uncharacteristically quiet, seemingly waiting for Zoro to say something. He obliges, willing to take it back in an instant and blame it on being drunk. “Yeah. Law’s hot.” 

“Would you…” Luffy looks like he’s trying to figure out how to say something. “What if we dated him? If he was interested. And if you were.” 

_We? Dated? Law being interested?_ Luffy _being interested? Is Zoro interested?_

“You’ve never mentioned anything about this before,” Zoro hedges. “Where— what—” 

“I’ve just been _thinking_ about it,” Luffy says. “Because I think you like him a lot. And I like him too. I mean. I want to get to know him better at least.” 

“I love _you_ ,” Zoro says. 

“I know,” Luffy says. “I love you too.” 

“Then why—Law?” 

“I can love more than one person,” Luffy says. “I don’t love Law. Obviously. But I could? And I’d still love you. You know?” 

Zoro _is_ actually just the wrong side of drunk for this conversation. “I—kind of?” 

Luffy finally takes pity on him. “Ace was talking to me about it. Dating more than one person. Well, he didn’t think I was listening, probably. But then I saw how you were looking at Law and I remembered that I wanted to talk about it.” 

“Huh,” Zoro says, very intelligently. He’s going to ignore the last bit because he totally was not looking at Law in any kind of way. 

“You don’t have to say anything about it right now,” Luffy says. “I just wanted to let you know. That it’s like, okay.”

“Law’s one of my best friends,” Zoro says. “I can’t—it would ruin everything.”

“Okay,” Luffy says. “Then we don’t have to talk about it ever again.” 

“Okay,” Zoro says, and tries to tell his heart rate to go back down. 

Luffy starts rambling about something Sanji cooked for him and Usopp the other day, and everything’s completely fine. Really. 

But the door’s been opened. Law and him and Luffy. It’s a thought that Zoro desperately wants to spend more time exploring and also shove deep, deep down.

In the meantime, he nods along to Luffy’s monologue, occasionally interjecting comments. He doesn’t want Luffy to feel bad for bringing it up, even though Luffy’s just as likely forgotten all about it. By 11:30, they’re both yawning through their words, so Zoro gets Luffy a Lyft now that Usopp’s left. 

Luffy carefully presses kisses to Zoro’s forehead while they wait for the driver to show up. He knows Zoro’s got sensory issues with kisses on the mouth, and it’s just, like, a normal thing for both of them, and it makes Zoro really happy. Because Luffy doesn’t remember a lot of things, but he loves Zoro, so he remembers this. 

The text comes after a while, and they properly kiss each other good-bye, and Luffy says, “I hope you had a good birthday,” and Zoro says, “I really did,” and Luffy leaves, and the day’s finally done. 

\--- 

Zoro goes to sleep with a flurry of thoughts in his mind, and he wakes up with just a fucking hangover. Which is really unfair, because he drank plenty of water last night. 

He turns on his phone and immediately brings down the brightness. Hangover headaches are the worst, plus, it’s so _early._

There’s a text from Sanji: a Venmo screenshot showing that Nami’s requested $3.00 for “i know you took my fucking wine last night PAY UP.”

> **Sanji:** Please tell her she’s being ridiculous

Zoro rolls over and falls back asleep until his second alarm.

**Author's Note:**

> WHY did this turn into several thousand words of self-indulgent Antics? clearly i’m not coping with something as well as i think i am. also i’m so sorry if the zolu polyam conversation comes off as ooc. i think it gets better resolved later on (whoa more fics in this au? wild) but in the meantime, i can say from experience that it IS that awkward.
> 
> streamer!usopp, roommates!kidd and law, and the family funeral home are all big parts of this au that i have tons of hcs about. law’s special interest being zombies is pure projection, and my steadfast hc is that he and zoro are both autistic. if you read any of my fics, i always include a few references to that :)
> 
> new job is perfectly fine (i have friends!) but finding time to sit down and write is difficult, especially because my process was already undisciplined. but i’m working on things and i’m excited to share them when i finish!!


End file.
